


Aura

by jbs2ndmom



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28145409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jbs2ndmom/pseuds/jbs2ndmom
Summary: Welcome to my newest fan fiction. This one was created as a part of the GOT7 Writers' Club December Challenge. I hope you like it.Prompt and Challenge: #UtropeaDifficulty Level III – 2 AU (Soulmate and Coffee Shop) plus 2 tropes (hurt/comfort and slow burn)
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Original Character(s), Im Jaebum | JB/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	Aura

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Jaebeom saw people as colors. To be specific he saw their colors. Everywhere he looked each person was surrounded by an aura of color unique to them. Some were blue hues, others red, green, yellow. You name it, but they all had unique characteristics. Some were similar but each had slight differences at least.

When he was very young he didn't realize that he was the only one who saw the auras of others. He must have been about four or five when he was found by his mom hiding in a closet. When she asked him why he was crying and seemed scared he was confused that she didn't know.

“Father is black today instead a dark red,” he said simply.

His mom cocked her head to the side implying that she needed more information, as she didn't understand.

“You know,” her young son said in his child like voice, “He's usually a dark red except when he's drunk or angry it gets darker. Tonight he is black and that usually means he'll hurt us with his words or his fists. Come in with me,” he offered while moving to the side of the closet space making room for his mom. “I don't like being around him when he's black, as my grey becomes darker. When I'm with you alone my grey gets lighter because of your white.”

While his mother didn't understand the color references, she realized in that moment that her son was sensitive to his father's abuse of alcohol and resultant abusive treatment of them. That night she began making plans to get her son away from him and, as soon as she could, she found herself a single parent raising her son as best she was able.

When Jaebeom was eight years-old, his mom met a man that he came to call his dad. Unlike his birth father, his dad was firm yet kind. He also liked the fact that his mom's aura, as he'd come to refer to the colors around people, melded with this dad's. His mom's pure white aura blended and swirled with his dad's ice blue aura, with hers taking on flecks of blue and his flecks of white. This was unlike his biological father's aura which seemed to bang and fight against his mother's white sheen. Also, no matter how irate his dad might become with Jaebeom's rebellious pre-teen and teen behavior, the ice blue never darkened, and definitely never turned black, something that gave Jaebeom the confidence to become a trainee without fear for his mother in his absence.

Jaebeom soon realized that no one else saw the colors like he did. Most people instinctively knew what their aura color was, though they may never have seen it. It was usually what they claimed was their favorite color. There were a few people who said their favorite color was something different from their aura, but if he carefully pressed, he found that their stated preference was often a way to hide and protect themselves from others. His best friend, Jinyoung, was such a person. He claimed his favorite color was white, but his aura was royal blue.

“Jinyoungie,” Jaebeom ventured sometime after their debuted as JJ Project, “I know you like white, but for some reason I always see you as a royal blue kind of person.”

This prompting ended up with Jinyoung admitting that he loved royal blue but wanted to maintain an air of mystique. More importantly he was a bit under confident because of a lisp he was working on fixing and also concern that he would be gifted everything in royal blue if he let their relatively small group of fans know. White allowed them to give him things of their favorite color and didn't diminish his joy when he did get something that was royal blue.

Try as he might, Jaebeom could never quite figure out how the colors were determined or decided. He originally thought that his grey aura was because his mom's was white and his biological father's was often black, but Jinyoung's was different from his sisters and his parents were brown and purple, so wouldn't have resulted in royal blue based on regular color palate mixes. This actually made Jaebeom feel a bit better, as he preferred thinking of himself as an individual rather than a sub part of his father. There were times though, when he got angry and short tempered that he could tell his aura was turning a darker grey. It also often turned closer to black when he was around people with black auras or ones which darkened when they were upset. Over the years he used his aura's color change to help him modify his behavior and responses. He vowed to never be abusive or be manipulated by the actions and emotions of others.

Once GOT7 debuted and they had their first fan meeting he was surprised to find that even though each fan had a different color aura, when they were performing in front of the fans their auras where haloed with a tinge of green. It was as if the GOT7 fans had a uniform aura color that they shared which encased their individual auras. It was because of this that Jaebeom pushed and basically insisted that the fan color for IGOT7/Ahgase would be green. Even before the creation of the Aghabong, Jaebeom was blessed by a green wave.

Maybe because of his ability to see auras, Jaebeom was very artistically inclined from a very early age. He also got a lot of inspiration for his songs from watching people interact with one another. Friends could be seen by their auras which seemed to poke and play with one another. Yugyeom and Bambam were perfect examples of this. The maknae's aura was a bright happy yellow. Much like his personality which always saw the good in things, his aura gave that same 'personality.' Bambam's aura was a baby blue. It always reminded Jaebeom that he was younger and still a boy. When they were together the two aura's would bump and slide in a way that was very symbiotic.

Lovers' auras were different. There were those whose colors would fight and battle with one another, like his mom and biological father's had done. He always felt a bit uncomfortable around those couples, as he knew they could do better with different parters. Others had a more fluid mesh of their auras. Fortunately, the parents of all the other members were like his and made it comfortable to be around them. Bambam's mom was the exception, since his dad passed away when he was young. Her aura, was a pale pink with a shadow of navy blue, which he often wonder was reminiscent of her husband. Since no one else seemed to see auras he couldn't confirm his hypothesis.

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Having spent way too much time cooped up at home with his cats, Jaebeom decided it was time to venture out and do some people watching to help inspire his song writing. As it so happened, a new retro cafe opened near his house. The cafe boasted great coffee, music played from vinyl records, and no internet access or electrical outlets (to discourage online activities.)

As Jaebeom entered the cafe he noted that there were four sections to his left and four to his right, with the register and barista located dead center. Each section comprised four overstuffed comfortable looking chairs that had wooden swinging table arms to allow for comfortable reading or writing. The four chairs in each section were set up with two on one side facing the other two. Two sections were next to one another along the back wall and the two more sections closer to the register. Between the sections there were plants growing up a trellis, thus allowing for some privacy and separation. The same set up was present on the right.

“Welcome to Cafe Retro,” said the barista with a peach colored aura and name tag that read Ji Ah. “May I take your order?”

Jaebeom took a bit of time looking over the selection of drinks and food that were available before deciding on something.

“If you'll take a seat we'll bring that to you.” She gave a knowing wink before adding, “We respect everyone's privacy so don't yell out names. If you'd like to stay for a while,” she said pointedly noting the journal and book in Jaebeom's hand, “we'll keep an eye out and come back to check if you need a refill or anything else from time to time. Like a restaurant, you pay at the end.”

“Sounds ideal,” said Jaebeom noting the faint green that had surfaced around her aura. She apparently was an Ahgase and had recognized him, but was either super professional and showed great self-control, or he wasn't her bias.

Heading to his left and the back wall. Jaebeom noted there was one person sitting on the left at the very back next to the window. The person was sitting with legs crossed on the chair and head down covered in a black long-sleeved Fire Nation hoody with the hood pulled up and over, effectively covering any facial features. Based on size it was probably a woman, since it was a school day and, therefore, probably not a boy or girl. Because of the clothing coverage, he also wasn't able to tell her aura. He decided to sit against the back wall as well, but on the far right.

Once his drink order arrived, Jaebeom set to work. First he took out his journal and pen, placing them on the table that he pivoted so it was in front of him. Then he took a closer look around the cafe.

First he checked out the peach colored barista. She was fairly tall, about 5'8” and had rose blonde hair in a short pixy cut. She was trim and had the cafe's black apron on over a white blouse and black slacks, which seemed to be the uniform for the staff. The other worker wore similar attire, but her aura was sea foam green. Unlike “Peach girl Ji Ah” she didn't seem to be an Ahgase. She was the one who delivered his drink and her name tag said she was Soo Yun. She was on the shorter side and had a more traditional hair style and dark brown almost black hair. Jaebeom estimated both to be in their early to mid twenties.

As it was fairly early in the day, there was a steady stream of customers who were having their orders to go. By lunch though, the chairs began to fill up, and a number of people sat in his section. No one seemed to acknowledge that they knew him, but he was thankful that he'd worn a snapback and glasses to cover his face a bit.

After the lunch rush, the place seemed to clear out, leaving only him and the hooded person to his right. Shifting in his seat he tried to get a better read on this person which was almost impossible until she pulled her hoody off.

Jaebeom had seen millions of auras, but he was taken aback when he finally saw hers. It was no wonder he couldn't spot even a hint of it when she had the hoody pulled up, for it was also black. It wasn't black like his father's, or any other black he's seen before. Those always seem to give off an ominous and dangerous vibe. This was a black that seemed more like a marble with different angles and facets to it. It almost seemed to reflect the light, like a black onyx.

It took Jaebeom quite a while to get over the color of her aura to appreciate her other features. The girl was probably around his age. She was petite, but didn't look frail. She had that skateboarder edge to her, as she was wearing black skinny jeans with a significant number of rips and tears in them that looked like they were acquired from tumbles rather that created by a designer. Under the hoody she was wearing a white T-shirt that also had the Fire Nation logo, but this one had the fire design in red, white, and blue and looked like the US flag. The one on the back of her black hoody was the traditional red, orange, and yellow flame logo. At first he couldn't see what type of shoes she wore, as she sat cross-legged, but when she finally shifted, he noted black hightop Converse with white laces.

Aside from her clothing, her hair was a medium brown that didn't look as if it were dyed, as she would occasionally pull it back into a messy pony tail and there were no signs of grow out. She didn't look like the type to spend much time in a salon either. She had that natural casual look about her that was his own personal style too.

The woman was busy writing in a notebook with a pencil. She used a discarded paper cup to capture the shavings when she periodically sharpened it. Her habit was to tap the eraser end on her temple and then stop abruptly and begin writing furiously. Jaebeom was so mesmerized that he could almost swear that he felt a tingling sensation ripple through his aura. He also was unabashedly staring without realizing it, when the girl turned sharply to her left and made eye contact.

Under any other circumstance Jaebeom would have immediately broken eye contact, but it was like he'd grabbed a live wire and was frozen in place. The girl's eyes were a golden brown encircled with a darker brown. They were round with one slight double eyelid and one mono-lid, making it clear that she'd not had any surgery. He wasn't sure how long they maintained eye contact, but when he was finally about to look away, she smiled.

Jaebeom's heart fairly leapt through his chest as her aura began to shift and change. The edges became angular and then smooth. Chancing a glance at his own aura, which usually darkened around people who had black ones, he noticed his had actually lightened. Confusion swept over him and must have shown on his face, as he smile faltered and the girl immediately turned back to what she was working on.

Just then Ji Ah stopped over to see if he needed a refill or something to eat. “May I have a cola please?” Jaebeom managed to get out, though his mouth felt dry.

“Certainly. Anything to eat? You haven't had anything yet. You don't want to starve yourself,” the barista added.

“Umm. I can't remember what my options are and I usually hate deciding. Can you select something for me? I'm not a picky eater.”

With a nod, Ji Ha moved to her left and asked the woman similar questions.

“A Korean American maybe,” thought Jaebeom to himself. “It would explain the eyelids, lighter hair color, American flag design on the shirt, as well as her boldness in meeting my stare.”

Though she didn't say much, he could tell that her Korean sounded like a native, except when she confirmed for the barista that her name was Daniella.

Not wanting to get caught staring again, Jaebeom set to writing. The task was not very productive though, as all his words seemed to be about the woman sitting next to him.

As workers filed in for an end of day treat, Daniella packed up her notebook and stuffed it in a backpack and stood to leave. Abruptly, she turned and looked right at Jaebeom. He was still trying not to look at her, but could her that she was departing so stole a glace and was caught out again. This time he inclined his head in a mannerly bow and smiled shyly at her.

“See ya tomorrow,” she said to him in perfect English and then bid goodbye in equally perfect Korean.

Jaebeom was left stunned and took about 15 minutes to collect himself before he too decided to call it a day. After all, he had been basically invited back the following day and he didn't want to miss a minute of it.

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When Jaebeom arrived at the cafe, he noted that Daniella was already in the same seat as the day before. He was a bit later in coming, as he'd hoped he could use the place being busy as an excuse to sit in the same section. Fortunately, Ji Ah was attuned to people and actually walked him back and sat him in the seat catty corner to Daniella in the same four chair section.

“If you don't mind. May I suggest you two sit near one another since you seem to be inclined to stay all day? It will probably be more productive for you both not having people coming and going all the time.” And with that she returned to the counter, leaving Jaebeom standing there not sure what to do.

“Go ahead. Sit. She's right. I hate it when people keep coming and going. Everyone seems to want to start a conversation and it interferes with my concentration. If it's the same person at least I won't have to spend the day repeating myself.”

Again she gave a smile that caused Jaebeom to question his sanity. Not sure how to respond he merely nodded and slid into his seat. Sitting closer to her was probably gonna have the opposite effect of making him more productive, but he wasn't going to complain.

He tried to focus on his work. Carefully he pulled out his journal and pen, placing his book to the side in case he wanted a break to read. When he was finally ready to begin, Ji Ah arrived with his mint chocolate milkshake.

“Enjoy!” she said as she winked at him with a clear double entendre.

Jaebeom had already taken a sip of the sweet cold concoction and nearly choked. As he tried to cover his mouth and not spit the shake all over, he saw Daniella reach out with a napkin, which he gratefully took and tried to regain his composure and his breathing.

“Milkshakes can be dangerous. You gotta be careful. Wouldn't want your obituary to read 'dead by dessert,” she quipped and the tension he'd felt eased dramatically as they both shared a quiet laugh.

“I'm Daniella Song,” the girl offered.

“Lim Jaebeom,” came his reply.

Again with the staring contest and the pins and needles feelings in his aura. Jaebeom was curious what that was all about. Maybe, he thought, if her were closer or touched her he could see if his aura darkened or something changed. But since they both had their table arms in place and were about five feet apart, he would seem awkward to try and shake hands at this stage of the game. “Maybe when one of us leaves,” he thought, planning a bit to himself.

Daniella went back to work. As was her habit she tapped her pencil on her head as she thought. Looking up though she noticed Jaebeom staring at her, so she stopped mid tap. “Does that bother you?” she asked, obviously concerned that the noise was distracting him.

“No. Not at all. It kinda sounds musical. Might even incorporate it into a song,” he offered to assure her it wasn't a bother. In truth, her mere presence was a total distraction and he wasn't sure if he would ever get any work done.

“You write music?” she asked with keen interest. “Anything I might have heard?”

Though Jaebeom was a bit disheartened that she didn't recognize him, he swallowed his pride and offered, “Well, maybe. I'm with a group and also write with a crew and do some solo work.”

The girl's laughter sounded like silver bells blowing in the breeze, as she chimed in, “Actually, I was just messing with you. I thought I'd recognized you yesterday, but when you introduced yourself today I knew for sure.”

“Oh. But you're not a fan of GOT7 are you?” He said this more as statement and with a bit of disappointment. He hadn't intended to, but it just tumbled out because he saw no green outline to her aura.

“No. No,” she assured him. “You'd be wrong there. I am a fan. But I do prefer your SoundCloud and Offshore work I guess. It's a bit edgier and I gravitate to R&B over pop.”

When she said this Jaebeom looked at her aura closely and noted for the first time someone who had a thin grey aura surrounding theirs. “Is this the equivalent of the green Ahgase effect or what?” he thought to himself, and he couldn't help but smile from ear to ear at the prospect.

“What're you working on so diligently, if I may ask?” he prompted, showing his interest in her and not wanting to be seen as self absorbed or self important.

“Oh, this?” came the reply as Daniella held up a notebook full of what looked like indecipherable scribbles to Jaebeom. “Just some coding. Nothing exciting like songs that speak to the soul,” she offered as if what she was doing was nothing interesting or significant compared to his work.

Jaebeom's interest was piqued though. “How do you do coding when you're nowhere near a computer. I'm not that good with either of them, to say the least, but I always thought those two went hand in hand.”

“Usually they do, and it would be a whole lot easier, but right now I have to go about things this way. Family issues. It's complicated.” This was said with a tinge of sadness and overlays of bitterness.

“I can do complicated. And I'm a pretty good listener. I'm also good at keeping confidences.” Jaebeom left his offer hanging in the air wondering if he'd overstepped his bounds.

Daniella hesitated. Just how much should she, could she share, without sounding pathetic or letting down her guard; the guard that was protecting her from all the hurt and the pain? Why did she feel she could trust this man. This stranger with soulful eyes and heart-wrenching lyrics and melodies? Mustering her courage and longing to share with someone, she listed the events as though they'd happened to someone else, using sarcasm as a protection, avoiding eye-contact with Jaebeom in the process.

“I started working at my dad's software engineering company when I was 13. All the way through high school, university, and into graduate school I spend my spare time developing programs. When I was 14, my aunt was hospitalized and I discovered that the electronic medical record (EMR) system was so complex that it undermined the medical care and treatment of most patients and frustrated just about every person on staff.”

Daniella went on to explain that, as a result, she spend hours, no months, researching and developing a medical records system that was seamless and user friendly. Seven weeks ago she and her father won the bid on an EMR project for the top medical centers in Seoul. While their fee was two million dollars higher than the next bid, they had promised to complete the work within six months. All other companies could only guarantee a product within two years.

“I had to show them the work I'd already done to convince them we could deliver on time. For a six million dollar project, I'd already done most of the research. We only needed to package it into a user friendly program and data base.”

“The night we won the bid, my apartment was broken into. Well no one else would have noticed, but I had security systems in place that triggered a warning. My computer was expertly, albeit unsuccessfully, hacked. Whoever it was had definitely been looking for my research,” she continued by way of background explanation.

“So they didn't get the research, but you're being extra cautious about the program just in case?” surmised Jaebeom.

“Actually, I'm not worried about a hacker anymore. There's someone on the inside who has authority to access all my computers now. You see two days after the break in, dad and I went to the hospital to double check a couple of things. As we went to leave, I remembered one question I needed to resolve, so he left ahead of me. On his way home, his car was in a hit and run accident. It was in an area where there was no CCTV coverage, his car's black box SD chip was removed, and the truck involved had been stollen so they couldn't trace the owner or driver.”

Jaebeom noted the robotic way that Daniella reported the events, as if she needed to distance herself from the pain of it all. The edges of her aura where irregular with spikes and dips leading him to believe that this was beyond painful for her to retell. When mentioning her father, a color other than black flashed in and out around her aura, much like with Bambam's mother. He surmised this was the color of her father's aura. Jaebeom regretting his earlier prying and curiosity, but knew better than to stop her at this venture.

“At the funeral,” Daniella continued with a flat affect while staring at a fixed point on the wall, “a man named Go Soon Woo showed up with a DNA report proclaiming him to be my father's son. As the eldest, and a male who is not 'tainted' by the American bloodline of my maternal grandfather, the company's board of directors have all but promised him the position of CEO, even though he has limited business experience and zero software engining skills. On top of all this, my mother is a wreck thinking her husband of 28 years cheated on her in the first year of their marriage. While I can't prove it, I trust my father and believe that the DNA report is a forgery and that Soon Woo set this all up to steal the company and the medical records software.” Here Daniella stopped and turned to look at Jaebeom, with a 'see I told you it was complicated' look.

Jaebeom was at a loss for words. Her father dead, and a mysterious half brother shows up to basically steal the company she worked so hard with him on. He could only imagine the sadness, anger, and possibly even survivor's guilt as she was supposed to have been in the car with her father.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried. I can't even imagine...” his words ran out. Then he added, “Your friends, your mother, they must know what's going on...” But as the words left his mouth the color associated with her father grew brighter. 'Damn,' he thought. 'Her father was clearly her best, if not only, friend. And her mother was distraught so she wouldn't want to add to the burden she was already carrying.

To prove his mulling was correct, Daniella's face fell and her eyes began to fill with tears that soon poured down her face in a waterfall. She swung the arm rest table to the side causing the remainder of her drink to go flying, stood abruptly, and darted for the bathrooms.

Jaebeom had seen it coming a split second later, so he followed her. Just before she entered the ladies' room, he managed to grab her wrist and with a gentle pull he instead shepherded her into the family bathroom and quickly locked the door. There he pulled her into a hug as she melted into his arms, tears racking her body.

Jaebeom was floored. The girl was wrestling with herself and it was manifesting with her response to him. She vacillated between holding on to him and pushing him away. Her struggle was so raw and painful that her aura's edge was all uneven. One moment it was spiky and the next it was flat and smooth. Then the impossible happened. As Jaebeom was trying to read the situation by checking out her aura, he noted that his had melded with hers. Unlike any connections between people that he'd seen before this was unique.

While his mom and dad's auras connected, their primary colors remained distinct with each taking on some of the color characteristics of the other. This was something he had seen often in couples he assumed where destined to be soul mates. But this was different. The black of Daniella's aura and the grey of his swirled together, and white was added to the mix. In the end their aura was a seamless bubble around them and looked like a marbled black, white, and grey with some speckling of black in the grey and grey in the black. This color combination, Jaebeom knew was often referred to as merle when associated with the coloring of animals. The connection of the auras so caught him off guard that it caused him to hold his breath and then slowly let it out before speaking.

“Daniella, I'm so sorry. Shhhh. Let it all out. You're safe here. You can trust me.”

Time seemed to both stand still and travel at the speed of light. Jaebeom was unaware how long they remained that way, when finally Daniella, gulping for air, pulled back.

“I'm sorry. I haven't had the luxury of mourning my father. I needed to be strong for my mom and keep my mind and energy on the project. I promise, it won't happen again.”

“There's nothing to apologize for. I'm sorry I brought it up. But, know that anytime you need a shoulder to lean on, arms to hold you, someone to listen, you can trust me.”

Daniella looked Jaebeom in the eye, noting that she didn't think she could ever trust of believe anyone again. She was clearly raw from the betrayal she felt by the board members, the loss of her father, and the sudden emergence of a half brother.

“Trust me,” said Jaebeom simply.

“I can't,” came the response, as Daniella tried to extract herself from Jaebeom's embrace.

Letting her go, but holding gently onto her hands, he repeated, “Trust me. Believe in me.”

“How can I?”

Then it came to Jaebeom. He couldn't tell her about the auras. Not yet anyway. She'd think he was a nut job or another scam artist. But he knew how to gain her trust in him. Colors had been such a part of his life while trying to figure out the whole aura thing, he'd spent hours learning the names of just about every color and hue under the sun. Whenever she spoke of her father the same color flickered around the outside of her aura.

“If I correctly tell you your father's favorite color, will you trust me?” he challenged.

This caught Daniella off guard. So much so that all she could do was stare at him.

“Trust me,” repeated Jaebeom yet again.

“Even if you are good at guessing, you'd never get it exactly right,” came the counter.

“I won't be guessing. I KNOW,” was the solid reply from Jaebeom.

“Let's assume for a moment you do guess. Why? Why would you want to get mixed up with me? Remember, my place was broken into, I was supposed to be in that car. I may not exactly be the safest person to be around.”

Jaebeom looked down at the merle colored marble swirl that was their combined aura and smiled before replying, “I have my reasons, but I can't tell you just now or you'll think I'm crazy. When you really come to trust me, then I'll tell you why I'm willing to risk that and more.” Then he asked once more with hope and pleading tinging his voice, “Trust me? Please!”

Daniella and Jaebeom maintained eye contact for quite a while. She wasn't sure what she was hoping for. Did she want him get it wrong, so he wouldn't get involved in something that could be dangerous? Did she hope he would get it right, even though it was a long shot? Would she even pretend he got it right if he didn't, so she'd have an excuse to trust in someone? Finally, almost imperceptibly, she nodded her head.

Taking a deep breath, Jaebeom said with conviction, “ Your father's favorite color was an orange tinted red.”

Daniella was conflicted. It was close, but that is never what her father would have called it.

Seeing the hesitancy on her face, Jaebeom added, “It's official name is coquelicot.”

Daniella about fell over, but for Jaebeom supporting her. He knew he's got it right, so gave her a huge smile before pronouncing, “You have to trust me now. Okay?”

Still shaken by his revelation of a very unique color's name, Daniella tentatively asked, “Can you read minds?”

Jaebeom chuckled a bit and then offered in a sober tone, “No. I wish I could, then I wouldn't have caused you so much pain by my questions.”

“But how did you know? It's not exactly a common color. I'm confused.”

“Well, guess this is the first thing you're just gonna have to trust me on then. But I promise, one day I'll tell you everything. For now,” he said while wiping the remnants of her tears from her face with his thumbs, “wash your face, blow your nose, and let's get you back to work. Together we can think of a way to confirm the identity of this half brother. If you trust your father then let's assume he's a fake and find a way to disprove his claim, DNA test be damned.”

After cleaning up a bit, the two left the family bathroom. Jaebeom was reluctant to break the aura's connection but discovered that when they separated both their aura's had changed. His was now a grey base with black speckles and white swirls, and hers was a black base with great speckles and white swirls.

“What are you smiling about?” Daniella asked Jaebeom, as he was unable to contain his smile.

“Oh, nothing much. Just thinking about colors and the fact that you promised to trust me. That's all,” he said as he winked at her.

“You're gonna keep rubbing that in aren't ya?”

“Absolutely!

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Week after week the two met in their regular spot. Even the staff at the cafe knew to reserve their spots and not let others sit there. It was only on Fridays that Daniella didn't show or when Jaebeom had a schedule. There were many days when Daniella ran late, and when prompted by the “you promised to trust me” pledge, she shared that she came to the cafe a different way each day, leaving her apartment at different times and heading to random locations to throw off anyone who might be following her.

“I have to take a route through areas where there is little traffic and CCTV coverage to decrease the chance of being detected. I know I sound paranoid, but..”

“Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you,” finished Jaebeom with an understanding nod. “Can't you at least text me that you're on the way? You don't keep your phone on and I worry about that.”

“Sorry. I keep my phone off from the moment I leave home til I get back to avoid any possibility of tracing. In my business, it's too easy to track someone.”

As time went on, Daniella truly did trust Jaebeom. At the start it was merely lip service due to her promise, but again and again he proved himself worthy of her trust. One day she asked him if he knew what her favorite color was, but he hedged on that and said it was a bit more complicated.

“More complicated than coquelicot?”

“Yes. You are,” he said smiling, refusing to elaborate any further.

During the several months that followed, Jaebeom was careful to let Daniella lead the conversation about her so called half brother, as well as the progress of her work. At one point he offered to give her access to his home and computer, but she laughed this off given the scrutiny he was regularly under by fans. He was fairly confident it had nothing to do with a lack of trust, because she did share details like the fact that her half brother always was meticulous about never leaving anything from which DNA could be lifted lying around. There were no half-eaten sandwiches, he washed his own cups, never left toothpicks or napkins behind, even at restaurants when they all went out to eat as a group he wouldn't eat, and other behavior that was suggestive that he knew saliva traces could be lifted and used to counter his claim of being the son of Mr. Song.

The program was finally written with the deadline of Monday looming. It still needed to be input in one go into a computer and housed in a secure location over the weekend. It took Daniella longer to finish everything since she had to write all the code without the originally projected aid of her father, and all in long hand, so she was pressed for time.

“You said if I ever needed help I could ask. I'm asking. Do you know anyone who could help me input the code?”

Jaebeom smiled broadly. He wished he were better on the keyboard and not so prone to mistakes, but he knew just the two who were keyboard wizards, so set her up with Mark and Youngjae, both of whom had been hearing stories about Daniella for some months now and had been pressing to meet her. He knew he'd be a distraction, so after securing the three in a hotel suit away from prying eyes, he found himself alone at the cafe the Friday before “D-day.”

Sitting in his regular corner, but in Daniella's corner spot, Jaebeom was busily working on a new song. Taking a moment to stretch, he noted a man and a woman had seated themselves in the section on the other side of the plant covered trellis in front of him. While he couldn't make out their features clearly, their conversation was rather loud. It was as though they felt they were bullet proof.

“Monday is the final day. She's done nothing. The death of her father really threw her into an emotional tailspin, not to mention my appearance.” This was followed by a chuckle.

“Yeah. Good thing too. Once she fails at delivering the EMR program under the contract terms, the board will surely appoint you CEO and you can rightfully claim all her research. We can then sell it to the others who bid on the project and let them fight over who'll take over the contract. We'll make tons that way and can even sell the company for additional profits,” chimed in the woman.

“She's been very suspicious of me since day one. Stupid girl really trusted her father. Not like the mother and the board who accepted the doctored DNA results without question.”

By this time Jaebeom was convinced he knew who the guy was, and nonchalantly signaled the server with the peach aura to come get him another refill. When she arrived, he told her his order and placed a note in her apron pocket and gave her a knowing looked. Ji Ah was bright and loyal. She'd never once disclosed to her friends or on social media that he was a regular, and she kept his friendship with Daniella secret as well. It probably helped that he'd gotten her some signed photo cards of her bias, Jackson. After today, he swore he'd introduce her to him.

“How'd you like the coffee and cake? Would you care for a refill or anything else?” Ji Ah asked the couple at the table in front of Jaebeom, as she deftly cleared the cups, plates, and utensils.

“It was delicious, but we're good for now. Do we pay here or at the register?” came the reply.

“Usually at the register, but since we're not that busy, enjoy your conversation and I'll bring you the tab. I'm sorry. How rude of me. I never introduced myself. I'm Ji Ah. It was a pleasure to serve you. And you are?”

“Yes. Whatever, I'm Go Soon Woo,” replied the man absently, as Ji Ah bowed respectfully and departed while trying to not look too suspicious.

“Cleaver girl,” thought Jaebeom. “She got him to say his name and kept them here longer while she fetched the bill. Maybe they'll talk some more.”

He also noted that Ji Ah was wearing gloves and she'd grabbed a zipper closing bag before heading back to the kitchen. Smiling, Jaebeom prayed that there was enough evidence on the items to get a DNA sample. Daniella had already supplied a sample of her DNA to the police, and they had some of her father's from the accident so getting an analysis should be relatively swift especially since a few friends of his from other KPOP groups were currently serving in the police and would be willing to help him expedite the process.

While the couple in front gloated a bit more about their future financial windfall, Jaebeom had been carefully recorded the whole conversation. They were so full of themselves that they even divulged which lab they'd used to conger up the fake report, their failed attempt to get any research data off of Daniella's equipment, and the piece de resistance, they talked about how much money they'd had to spend to get the driver who'd crashed into Daniella's “old man” silenced and out of the country.

Once they'd left, Ji Ah gave Jaebeom the dishes and cutlery she'd taken from the couple, refusing the huge bonus he offered and only taking what the replacement cost would be for the items.

Jaebeom didn't want to get Daniella's hopes up or distract her from the work she was doing, so he took the bagged evidence and recording to his friends in the police force who introduced him to a prosecutor known for his top notch investigative skills in the area of cyber theft and fraud.

Meanwhile, Daniella, Mark, and Youngjae had a lot of work to do. After inputing all the code, they had to check and double check to make sure there were no input errors and that the program ran as expected. They were fortunate that his gaming buddies were not only up to the task, but thrilled by the prospect of being involved in helping others. Youngjae was particularly excited as he knew better record keeping would help in all cases, but would really expedite care in cases of mass casualties. He was still hyper sensitive about the Sewol Ferry accident and knew that proper responses in a timely fashion could save lives that would otherwise be lost. His careful input and review, along with that of Mark's, made delivery of a state of the art electronic medical records system to the client in a timely fashion possible. Their hours of sleepless nights gaming had conditioned them for the extreme working conditions.

“I could never have done this without the aid of three friends. One who encouraged me for the past several months, and two who were instrumental in uploading all the code in a secure environment. I trust you will be satisfied with the end product, and I will work tirelessly over the next three months on any upgrades or changes you would like to have made to the current program,” Daniella announced at the unveiling of the program and dry run through all its features to the board of her father's company and the staff and directors of the hospital who had contracted with her for the EMR.

The only one in the room who seemed annoyed by the sudden completion of the project was Go Soon Woo. He also seemed a bit on edge, as several men in suits and police officers were waiting by the only exit to the conference room where the overhead presentation had taken place.

As the room began to empty. Soon Woo tired to exit amidst a group of physicians, but Jaebeom delayed his departure by announcing, “Ah you must be Go Soon Woo, the half brother of Daniella Song.” As if on cue the police surged towards him and handcuffed him on the spot while the prosecutor read him his rights.

“What's going on?” Daniella asked Jaebeom. Concern and curiosity mingling in her tone.

“I didn't want to get your hopes up or distract you from the project, but that idiot is super unlucky. He came to the cafe of Friday and bragged about all he'd done. I recorded it and Ji Ah safeguarded the items he used for eating, so we were able to get DNA samples.”

Jaebeom went on to explain the rest of what he'd heard during the time they were at the cafe, being especially sensitive about what was tantamount to a confession that he'd contracted to have her father killed. It was a bit overwhelming for Daniella, who was already exhausted from the weekend marathon, so she couldn't hold her tears. The tears were a mixture of sadness and joy.

As Jaebeom help Daniella in his arms, he assured her all would turn out well and noted, “I told you that you could trust me.” As she pulled back from his hug to look him in the eye and thank him for all he'd done, Jaebeom leaned down and first kissed her forehead, and then, cupping her face he gently kissed her lips.

While he wanted to kiss her more, Jaebeom broke off the kiss to check Daniella's reaction. What he saw astonished him. The black of her aura had completely gone and now their commingled auras were a mixture of white and cobalt blue. Dark and light patches swirled together seamlessly with flecks of grey here and there.

Jaebeom jumped back in surprise. Looking down at his own aura he noted that it was mostly white now with some patches of grey and twisting spirals of cobalt blue. Daniella's aura was the reverse image of his, but when he touched her again, the auras blended flawlessly, the colors flowing together like the tide.

Daniella looked at Jaebeom quizzically. “What?” she asked.

“Your favorite color is cobalt blue!” he announced.

“How do you do that?” she asked perplexed.

Kissing her once more, and this time she responded, Jaebeom simply said, “Because I can see your aura without distraction now and...” One more kiss on her nose. “I can promise you we're soul mates. Do you trust me?”

As an answer, Daniella reached her arms around Jaebeom's neck pulling him down for yet another kiss.

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End file.
